I Am Somebody
by Illorion
Summary: Rated R For Later Chapters. Sora is tired of everyone thinking that hes weak, tired of being second to Riku. Now hes out to Prove that he is just as much a somebody as anyone else. Slightly AU


I Am Somebody  
  
Another day of the same routine that has been the norm for as long as Sora could remeber. It went a little something like this; Sora goes to watch Riku practice, wishes he could move with that kind of grace, waits for Riku to finish, stands to the side whilst girl flock to Riku like moths to a halogen lamp, then they walk home together. Today was no different. Although Sora was glad that he wasn't close enough to the girls to Riku frenzy to catch any of the possible "How come you hang out with Sora when he such a loser" remarks that the females seemed so fond of tossing around. They didn't bother Sora very much though, as long as Riku could see him for what he was then there was no need at all to let those kind of snide remarks get him down. Often during those times when Riku's attention was focus on beating said girls of him with a stick, Sora would find himself daydreaming of what it would be like if the roles were reversed, what would it be like if he were the strong one.  
  
"Hey Sora whats shakin," was the remark that brought Sora out of his trance, leaning against a wall patiently waiting the arrival of his silver headed hero.  
  
"Not much Riku just waiting for you to ditch the bomb squad," Sora chuckled.  
  
"Well you know were would I be without my fans?" was Rikus reply.  
  
"Probably in the same place except with a much smaller head and a much lower chance of catching an STD," answered Sora, then he immediatly starting laughing at his own joke.   
  
Riku had joined deciding that even though it was directed toward him, he had to admit it was funny. "Your such a smartass Sora," stated Riku still chuckling.  
  
"Well somebody has to be the brains of this opperation, yours are leaking out of your ears from the pressure," Sora finished.  
  
And thats the way it went, thats the way that it had always went, as far back as Sora could remember. He never questioned it much, he certainly didn't loath it, and he figured that if it stayed like that forever he could live with it and be content.  
  
So they walked talking about nothing in particular, that was the beauty about having a best friend, conversations never had to have a point. This was especially true when it came to the bond between Sora and Riku, it had been like this since the were little, now that they were just a little past the teenage checkpoint Sora had noticed that they had grown a little further apart but he concluded that it was just a stage. Even when you best friends with someone its still little embarassing to admit waking up for the first time with a little, well in Sora's case a lot, suprise coating you nether regions. Sora took it in stride though, there was never a doubt in his mind that he and Riku would be together forever.   
  
"So Riku got any plans today or you wanna go to the island and spar for a while," Sora never knew why he bother asking when he knew the answer.  
  
"Actually Sora I met some guys at school that are pretty cool and I was supposed to hang out with them for a little while today," retorted Riku.  
  
Sora was stunned, this was new, Riku turning down honing his skills with Sora. However, one thing that Sora had learned from being friends with Riku was the ability to never miss a beat. "Oh, OK i guess maybe ill catch you later then," piped Sora, adding one of his "hey wanna see what my molars look like" smiles.   
  
"Sure, sounds good Sora," was Riku reply "you'll be around won't you."  
  
"Sure will."  
  
"Cool, later"  
  
"C ya."  
  
With that Riku sped off leaving Sora with his hand still in the air and one of his goofy grins still plastered on his face. Sora was glad that he had this natural ability, those life saving grins were not only good for looking cute and getting what he wanted but they were so huge that they almost covered his whole face. Perfect for covering up emotions that he didn't want other people to see. Once Riku was out of sight Sora turned on heel with a huff.  
  
"Well this bites, now what am I supposed to do for the rest of the day," Sora sighed.  
  
However his answer came quickly as soon as he stepped into his house. Once through the door he turned his head to see his favorite thing in the entire house.... the refridgerator.  
  
After about fifteen minutes and a little bit of mess Sora settled down in front of the TV, with a large plate of pizza rolls, some noodles, a can of pringles, some leftover chicken, a powerbar (just so he didn't fell completely guilty), and a twenty ounce of pepsi (thats right pepsi cause coke sucks). He flipped on the tube and the first thing that popped up was the local channel. Sora lived in an extremely small town so the local channel would anything from the highschool game, to what flowers the lady two streets over had decided to completely cover her lawn with this year. At the moment, however, the highlights from the middle school game were on, so Sora was greeted with Riku's face right of the bat.  
  
"Star dragon's player Riku Kitsuztu (no clue there but it sounded nice) was once again in top performance as...."  
  
Sora flipped the channel, 'It's not all that great, I could do that stuff if i wanted to', Sora though. He immediatly scolded himself. The was one thing that he promised himself that he would never do and that was get jelous of Riku, he was his best friend and best friends didn't think those kinds of things about each other. Sora continued channel surfing until he landed on the best channel in the whole world... Cartoon Network. Riku had laughed at him for still liking cartoons, stating that it was just something that fourteen year olds didn't watch anymore. Sora had countered, however, with the logic that if he wanted to watch boring real life stuff then he could just go outside and stare at people all day. That always managed to shut Riku up for a while. Sora was definatly the wittier of the two, but that was about the only thing that he had more of, they made the same grades at school. And everything else Riku had him beat hands down. He was stronger, better looking, more popular, and with much better people skills. As these thougts ran through Sora head though he realized that they didn't matter to him because the Riku that everyone knew and loved stuck by him. Although that was a little different today. Sora's thoughts were immediatly cut off as DBZ came one the air.  
  
"Oh yeah bring on the vicious animated violence," Sora cheered.  
  
Else were on the sunny tropic oasis of Destiny Island found Riku, pouring the sweat and lovng ever minute of it.   
  
"Not bad kid, not bad, I must say that I am thouroughly impressed," stated a second sliver haired youth maybe three years older then Riku from the looks of him.  
  
"I humbly accept the compliment Sephiroth, but im hardly though yet," laughed Riku as he lunged at Sephiroth with all the agility that his well developed body would generate.   
  
Back and forth it went, dodging and slashing, thrusting and parrying, neighter of them giving and inch. Though the end of the fight saw Riku lunging toward his opponent, failing to notice the shift in his left foot. Sephiroth dodged to the side at the last minute and delivered a blow to the back of Riku's head that sent the youth crashing to the ground with a thud; sprawling out face first in a reverse spread eagle.  
  
"Ow, damn that hurt, that was one hell of a hit Seph, had that sword been metal I'm positive that i would be a few inches shorter," admitted Riku, as he gingerly rubbed the back of his head.  
  
"So how does it feel to spar with someone who can actually keep up?" questioned Sephiroth.  
  
"Great actually, don't get me wrong I love Sora but fighting the same person over and over again can be boring," replied Riku.  
  
"Honestly I don't know why you hang out with that weakling Riku, he obviously doesn't fit in with you," spat Sephiroth " I think that the only reason that you hang out with him is because you pity him."  
  
"No thats not it Seph I like Sora he's..... well he's.....," Riku failed to finish his sentance.  
  
"Admit it Riku, have you ever done one thing that Sora was able to keep up with you in, have you ever spared one time with Sora with him as the winner?" demanded Sephiroth.  
  
"Well... no not really... but he is as smart as I am, we make the same grades," defended Riku.  
  
"Yes and im sure that your gonna be using the ability to do math with letters and number for the rest of you life," chuckled Sephiroth "and im also positive that the knowledge of who won the Battle if Shekarie's Wrath is gonna save your life one day."  
  
Riku opened his mouth to retaliate but soon shut it in defeat. Sephiroth did have a valid point there.  
  
"Look this will save you life one day and maybe even decide your future, you know that there are always a calling for demon hunters out there, you need to stop wasting your time with that weakling is all im saying," Sephiroth finished.  
  
Riku simple nodded, although he wasn't going to give up his friend, maybe he should start hanging out with a stronger crowd. It wasn't like Sora would mind if he was gone some of the time.   
  
Back to the cartoon and junk food o' rama. Sora was at the end of his favorite episode, thinking maybe it wasn't so bad that Riku left him for the day. At least he got to catch his favorite show, and not only that but his favorite episode.  
  
"Thats right kick his ASS Gohan," Sora cheered. He could never help but get into this show, he could never figure out why but he suspected it was because it displayed we he so badly wanted... to be strong.  
  
Now that the show was over and Sora had effectivley rid the earth of another large portion of edibles his mind sought out his next form of entertainment. If on cue there was a knock at the door.  
  
'That can't be Riku it's barley been an hour,' thought Sora, trying to brush of wishful thoughts.  
  
Sora pulled open the door and was greeted by a bush of blond hair and a grin that could almost rival his own.  
  
"Tidus, hey whats up!" greeted Sora, flashing his own pearly mandibles 'I'll show him whos the champ' he mentally chuckled.  
  
"Not much, i'm suprised that your home and not off with Riku," stated Tidus "were is ol' aluminum head anyway."  
  
"Hes off with some guys he said he met at school," Sora said glumly before he had time to catch himself.  
  
Tidus caught his gloom and hoped his prospect would cheer him up "well im bored you wanna spar with me?" queried Tidus.  
  
"Sure," Sora brigthen immediatly. When it came to sparring Riku was a bit better, actually alot better, so much better that he beat the living crap out of Sora everytime that they sparred and Sora had yet to win even once. Sora had decided to stop kidding himslef, Tidus however was pretty much his equal, so fighting with him promised to bring hours of enjoyment.  
  
Sora charged upstairs to grab his trusty training sword and then headed off with Tidus. The rest of the day was filled with displays of agility, speed and coordination. Not to mention bumps, bruises, cuts and owies. Sora came home at the end of the day a little battered and beaten but happy nonetheless. He was greeted by his mom and a meatloaf the size of 3 footballs.   
  
"Hey mom did Riku come by for me?" Sora asked.  
  
"No dear I havn't seen him all day," his mom replied from the laundry room.  
  
"Oh," was Sora slightly dissapointed reply.  
  
Thats was slightly odd, Riku didn't come by at all for him today. 'He must have gotten side tracked with something important,' concluded Sora. With that thought he happily inhaled the rest of his fourth helping of meatloaf.  
  
The next day found Riku deep in thought. 'What if Seph is right, what if Sora is holding me back'. Riku was trying to shake this feeling all day but he just couldn't. For some reason today everytime he looked at Sora he couldn't help but notice how weak and fragile he looked. Not only in body but in the mind as well, Riku hadn't cried since he was seven when he decided that crying was something that babies did and he was definatly not a baby. Sora however would still get choked up at the movies sometimes. It was a little embarrassing to Riku but when he brought this to Sora he just stared wide eyed at him and stated that if he didn't even feel like tearing up at least a little then he must be inhuman, then immediatly started laughing. That was just like Sora though, to never take anything seriously.   
  
Practice was over again and as usual Riku was surrounded by his estrogen fuelled "fans". He usually didn't pay them any attention at all but for some reason today there snide remarks about how big a loser Sora was and how weak he was and there justification for those remarks seemed to make sense. Riku however dismissed himself from the mob and met up with his long time friend for their walk home.   
  
"Jeez bout time, I thought they were gonna starting tossing their underpants at you any minute," stated Sora blandly. He waited to here his companions rich laughter that he had come to love the sound of, it had become a music that he needed to hear everyday to let him know that the world was still a great place to be. However, it never came, and this puzzled Sora greatly. He knew it was funny, he knew that almost anything that he said was funny to Riku.  
  
He glanced up at his slightly taller friend as they continued their journey home. "Are you ok Riku, is something bothering you," questioned Sora, he hated seeing his friend in a bad mood, it was like a storm covering a sunny day to Sora.  
  
"Huh, oh yeah.... sure im fine," was Riku's lame reply.  
  
Sora however didn't buy it. "Are you sure, I mean you know that you can talk, I'm always there for you Riku." Sora knew that sometimes Riku needed a little sunny encouragement to spill his troubles.  
  
"I said that i was fine Sora," Riku replied with a bit of venom in his voice. Sora recoiled a little but relied on the quick recovery that he had learned from Riku.  
  
"Oh OK, well what are you up to today feel like taking me up on that sparring offer," Sora knew that when Riku was ready he would open up, and sparring was a great way to get Riku to release whatever is frustraiting him. Even if it came at the cost of Sora's body, it was a small price to pay for his best friends piece of mind.   
  
"No im busy today," replied Riku, his tone of voice daring Sora to question him on it.  
  
"Doi....," Sora cut himself off as he caught the message hidden in the tone. He was really confused now and managed to push out an "ok' before they reached there houses and Riku headed inside.  
  
Sora pushed through the front door completely bewialdered. What would cause Riku to act like that toward him, had he done something wrong. No it couldn't be, he would have been well aware of any actions that he did that would affect Riku. What was it then? Sora concluded that thinking over an empty stomach was an unwise thing to do and that if he ever took over the world he would make such and action punishable. So after a light snack, which was a full course meal to reagular humans, Sora peeked out the window to spot Riku heading off towards the beach on the backside of the island.   
  
'Whatever it is thats got Riku like this it must be bad,' Sora mused ' I have to find out what it is, thats the only way that im gonna be able to help." With that Sora grabbed his trusty "Excalioak" as liked to call it and headed after Riku. Determined to help his companion whatever the cost.  
  
How was that? Hopefully im getting better at this whole writing thing. If you want me to continue please send a little R&R encouragement my way. If you liked it i'll go on to chapter Two. Truth and Training.a 


End file.
